Garnet and the Fox – Epilogue

2021
Tucson, Arizona, United States of America

Allison walked through the Tucson convention center with a wide smile plastered on her face and a bounce in her step, weaving between a sea of Harley Quinns and Deadpools as she moved between booths, looking at posters and signed memorabilia. Tucson Comic Con was one of her favorite parts of going to the University of Arizona… just minutes away from her dorm, she could come here after classes every day this week. She’d been working on her costume all semester, and while it wasn’t anything special, she was proud of it… a long, fluffy wolf tail dangled out the bottom of her red cloak, and pointed ears nestled in her brown hair, the band they were attached to hidden beneath her thick locks. Holo was her favorite anime character, and the wolf-girl costume had gotten her no shortage of compliments over the last two days she had attended.

True, it wasn’t anything special… the tail just sagged there, and the ears were a little uncomfortable, but she was proud of it anyway. She adjusted the band holding her ears on when she hoping no one was looking… the damn things kept sliding. Next time she would use clips, she swore to herself. Idly, she wondered if she could try to remake them tonight in between writing that essay for Classic Lit and her assigned reading.

She was looking at a poster of the Serenity – signed by the whole cast! – and wondering if she could justify the cost to buy it to herself to hang it on her dorm wall when she saw the most amazing costume in the room walk by. She gasped, turning her whole head to watch him. It wasn’t the flashiest costume, for sure… in fact, it was almost plain in its simplicity. Nine grey fox tails and grey, pointed ears emerging from a mop of dark hair. He wasn’t even really wearing a costume, just torn black jeans and a Metallica shirt. That wasn’t what was special about the costume. What was was just how perfect it was.

Allison had spent weeks making hers, so she knew all about the difficulty… how hard it was to rig a tail to swing naturally, how to make the tails hang so they didn’t get stuck in your feet or drag on the ground to be stepped on, and she was only too well aware of how annoying difficult the ears could be to get right… she adjusted hers again for the 5th time in the last half hour. The tail rig usually was a bit too blocky, and created a bulge on the back… she had to hide hers with a cloak. He wore just a tee-shirt… and his tails hung perfectly! It was almost like a real kitsune was walking through the room!

Delighted, Allison skipped after the man, intending to compliment him… and maybe get some pointers. As she did, she marveled further at the cosplay, astounded by how smooth it was. The tails swung softly back and forth, moving with every twitch of his spine as he walked confidently through the convention, looking around curiously. It just looked so… natural. Speeding her steps, “Holo” walked up behind the mystery man and tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned with some annoyance, but his eyes calmed and an amused smirk crossed his face as soon as he lay eyes n her. He laughed then… a delightful sound, rich and full of genuine amusement. “Why, isn’t that just precious!” he said, his voice a smooth tenor as he looked her up and down. “It’s a good look on you,” he said with a smile. He was wearing a convention badge around his neck. ‘Hello! My name is… Roul.’

Allison smiled back at him. “Great costume, mister,” she said, beaming at him. He was still checking out her outfit, and it made her smile to be looked as by someone who was obviously so much more skilled at the craft… maybe she didn’t look as awkward as she feared. “I love it!” He really wasn’t that much older than her, she judged… maybe a year or two at most. Maybe not even old enough to drink yet. “Haven’t seen you here before,” she admitted, intrigued. “You from around town?”

“Just passing through,” Roul admitted, tilting his head to admire her tail. She turned to the side and lifted her cloak a little to give him a better view of it… and her ass, she supposed, but if she didn’t want anyone looking at that, she shouldn’t have attached a tail just above it, right? “First time around here… but if I’d known someone as del… lightful as you was waiting to be found, I might have come sooner.”

Allison blushed. “Oh, this is nothing compared to…” she pointed. “All that! Can you show me how you did it? Those tails are the best made costume I’ve ever seen… they’re so… real!”

Roul laughed again, and his mouth spread into a wide, eager grin. “The better to intrigue you with, my dear…” he said with a chuckle. “I’d be happy to show you. Come with me…”

END

Roul’s story continues in Hunting Ground